Stanley’s True Value Hardware: Environmental Dedication, Excellent Design

It’s official. PWD named the first Stormwater Pioneer—Stanley’s Hardware in Roxborough. Congratulations to third-generation business owners Mark and Joe Jaconski and their stormwater management design team from Ruggiero Plante Land Design.  At today’s dedication, we recognize the owners and designers of Stanley’s Hardware as role models for business owners and private developers who want to reduce stormwater runoff from their properties. “If everyone does their part, it’s much easier for the City and the Water Department to deal with stormwater,” says Mark.
 
The Jackonski’s built a new, larger store on the site of their existing business in Roxborough.  As part of the project, they were required to meet PWD’s Stormwater Regulations. In addition to doing a fantastic job meeting the regulations, they also overcame several challenges: keeping the store open while building a new one, working around bedrock at various locations on the property, and protecting neighboring properties.

The stormwater solution developed by Ruggiero Plante Land Design includes two underground infiltration basins that collect runoff from the store’s roof and parking area.  To avoid subsurface bedrock, one of the basins is split into two storage beds hydraulically connected with HDPE pipes.  Above ground, the parking lot drains directly into a rain garden through openings in the curb.  The rain garden collects and filters the runoff through plants and engineered soils.

An elaborate, seven-phase construction plan allowed the existing store to remain open until the new one was ready.  Now business is booming.

“We’re hoping to keep trash, debris and other pollution out of the water so that everyone can enjoy a clean river.  If we can play a small part in making the environment better for the next generation, that’s a major plus for us,” says Joe.

Learn more about Stormwater Pioneers.

More and more Philadelphia businesses are using green infrastructure to manage stormwater runoff on their properties. Whether required by PWD regulations or encouraged through incentives, private property owners recognize the important role they play in reducing pollution in our streams when it rains. They are also setting a higher bar with excellent, cost-effective designs.

That’s why PWD recently launched Stormwater Pioneers, a program to highlight the work of innovative business owners and design teams. Stormwater Pioneers acknowledges the very best in stormwater management on private property. The program showcases innovation, excellence, the ability to overcome technical challenges and a true dedication by the property owners, developers, engineers and designers to reduce stormwater runoff.

The first Stormwater Pioneer is Stanley’s True Value Hardware, which has operated as a family-run business in Roxborough for 66 years. After decades of working in a cramped store, brothers Mark and Joseph Jaconski decided to build a new store on their current property. The construction of an expanded facility required the brothers to meet PWD’s Stormwater Regulations. They also decided to protect the environment for the next generation. Their solution was a comprehensive design that utilizes a beautiful rain garden and three underground infiltration basins, which capture runoff and infiltrate it into the ground. 

The property at 5555 Ridge Avenue will be dedicated on Thursday, November 20th at 2 pm. Join Councilman Curtis Jones, Water Department Deputy Commissioner Chris Crockett, the Roxborough Development Corporation and the Central Roxborough Civic Association as they honor the Jaconski brothers and Ruggerio Plante Land Design for their part in protecting the health of Philadelphia’s rivers through excellent site design.

Shortnosed sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum. Author: Karen Couch, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Last summer, just below the Fairmount Dam on the Schuylkill River, an angler managed to catch a shortnose sturgeon, a species of fish that has been on the endangered species list since 1967! While sometimes found in the Delaware River, the shortnose sturgeon has never been found in the Schuylkill—at least not on record. PWD regularly samples fish in the Schuylkill and in their 14 years of sampling below the dam, they have not seen this species.

Spotting this shortnosed sturgeon not only indicates that the species could be coming back, it also indicates that the water quality of the Schuylkill is improving. Researchers have long used levels of dissolved oxygen to gauge water quality—oxygen deficient water is not good for aquatic life. The sturgeon is extremely sensitive to low levels of dissolved oxygen, so finding one in the Schuylkill indicates that the dissolved oxygen levels are on the rise.

If you’re lucky enough to catch a sturgeon, remember it is a protected species and that you should quickly return it to the water. To learn more about the shortnosed sturgeon and other species (not all good!) that inhabit the Schuylkill River, check out this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.